NGO: Violence Marked 2023 in Serbia, State Officials also Using Violent Rhetoric

the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

In relation to human rights, Serbia was not on the right path, while violence in public spaces by regime representatives was omnipresent in 2023, it was said at a news conference of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights on April 9. 

This non-governmental organization (NGO) presented a report on human rights in Serbia in 2023, which states that “violence in the society is a logical consequence of violent rhetoric, which has been overwhelmingly present in the public domain and has been serving to maintain constant tensions and conflicts, and which often comes from top state officials and representatives of state institutions.” 

 “Separation of powers has almost collapsed, with the executive branch taking the primacy over other two branches, while the president has often acted outside his constitutional powers,” it is said in the report. Inefficiency of the judiciary has led to the loss of citizens’ trust in the judicial system, while the parliament work in 2023 was marked with abuses of parliamentary rules of conducts. 

The report further says that the space for activities of civil sector organizations “has drastically narrowed, while individuals and organizations with critical stand on the regime have been threatened.” The document adds that “the journalists expressing critical views of the regime have been subject to increasing pressure, attacks and insults.’ 

Serbia according to the report, is among the European countries with the highest risk of poverty and social exclusion, and also among the countries with the highest income gaps. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) criteria, Serbia has been regressing also in terms of gender equality, the reports says and underlines the very difficult status of persons with disabilities.